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Publications

Trade has the potential to contribute to economic growth and to more and better jobs. Whether trade contributes to growth that is inclusive, in the sense that all people can contribute to and benefit from growth triggered by trade, is likely to depend on country specificities including institutional pre-conditions and policies applied in domains other than trade. This paper identifies specific challenges for making trade inclusive and identifies ways for dealing with them.

The Cocoa Grower’s Association (CGA) in the Republic of Vanuatu is a fundamental example of how the organization of local cooperatives can make a significant impact and create an environment for inclusive trade. This paper will review a case study of implementing a governing association that coordinates cocoa cooperatives in Vanuatu, and which is focused on organizing the production and trade in the region, as a method to highlight key lessons learned and potential for scalability in furthering inclusive trade goals.

This paper studies the linkages between international openness and inclusive growth, understood as better access to productive employment and entrepreneurship, the reduction of poverty and a more equal income distribution. It introduces the notion of inclusive trade as the linkages through which international integration can contribute to inclusive growth. Four dimensions of potential linkages are analyzed, namely: (i) aggregate employment and its distribution, (ii) aggregate productivity, (iii) poverty and income inequality, and (iv) equal opportunities.

The 2013 ESCAP Population Data Sheet for Asia and the Pacific focuses on maternal health. In light of the current challenges in achieving MDG 5 on maternal health, indicators such as births attended by skilled health personnel, maternal mortality ratio, unmet need for family planning and adolescent fertility rates are provided.

This report highlights that Asia and the Pacific has made good progress towards the MDGs, through the region will still need to make greater efforts if it is to meet some important targets. Now it has the opportunity to set its sights higher when considering priorities for a post-2015 framework.

The Millennium Development Goals have helped rally political support for global efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable human development. The Asia-Pacific region has achieved remarkable progress on the MDGs, particularly on reducing income poverty; however, it still has a significant ‘unfinished agenda’. People in the region continue to face major deprivation, along with many new and unaddressed development challenges. As the finishing line for the MDGs approaches, this report articulates Asia-Pacific aspirations for a post-2015 development framework.

This book, co-published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), provides guidance for the implementation of trade facilitation measures and reforms in Asia and the Pacific. It attempts to bridge the gaps among policy makers, practitioners, and economists by outlining operational guidance on how to assess the status of trade facilitation, what measures and reforms are necessary, and how to implement them at the national and regional levels.

The Asia-Pacific Development Journal (APDJ) is published twice a year by the Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The primary objective of the APDJ is to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience, ideas, information and data on all aspects of economic and social development issues and concerns facing the region and to stimulate policy debate and assist in the formulation of policy.

Between late 2012 and mid‐2013, Terabit Consulting performed a detailed analysis of the broadband infrastructure in the nine largest member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Terabit Consulting’s analysis also included trans‐border broadband projects extending into contiguous regions such as Yunnan Province, China.

Household water security is a basic requirement of life. More than being simple basic needs, water and sanitation services are recognized as crucial elements that otherwise would put other development investments and public health at risk. Asia and the Pacific as a whole is an early achiever for halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, but not however, sanitation. Most of the Asia-Pacific countries will not come close to achieve the MDG target on access to improved sanitation.